As you probably know by now, The Analog Kid lives for b-sides and non-album cuts. In this continuing series, I will share some of my favorite EPs and 12″ singles from over the years in their entirety. And since it’s digital, you don’t have to worry about correctly setting the turntable speed to 33⅓ or 45!
From the “so crazy it has to be true” file: Atlantic Records initially refused to release the Kick album after INXS finished the recording sessions in late 1987. The label even offered the band $1,000,000 to re-record the album in order to make it less “urban.” OK, so the record definitely had more of a soulful feel than previous INXS records– but really? How could you take one listen to this record and not understand how HUGE it was going to be?
I had been an INXS fan since I first saw the video for “Don’t Change” on MTV during the summer of 1982, and Listen Like Thieves was one of my favorite albums during the summer of 1986. I bought Kick the day it came out, and I immediately noticed the (in my eyes, slight) stylistic change. Did it matter to me? Not one bit. There’s not a single bad song on Kick— it spawned four Top 10 singles in the U.S. alone, and I think it would have been five if Atlantic had chosen to release the insanely catchy “Mystify” as a single as well.
“New Sensation” was the third single released from Kick, and it followed “Need You Tonight” and “Devil Inside” straight into the Billboard Top Ten. The U.S. 12″ single for “New Sensation” contains a great Nick Launay remix of the title track, and also includes an extended version of “Guns In The Sky.” The U.K. 12″ features the album version of “New Sensation,” and also includes 1986’s “Do Wot You Do” (from the Pretty In Pink soundtrack). Side two of the U.K. 12″ showcases two tracks that should have been hits in the first place: “Same Direction” from 1985’s Listen Like Thieves, and “Love Is (What I Say)” from 1984’s The Swing (my favorite INXS album).
For a brief period during 1988 and 1989, INXS were arguably the biggest band in the world thanks to the success of Kick. Ahmet Ertegün may be music legend and a Rock And Roll Hall Of Famer, but it’s a good thing that INXS told the Atlantic Records chairman to shove that $1,000,000 right where it belonged back in 1987. Sometimes you kick, and sometimes you get kicked.
![New Sensation [U.S. 12_]](https://analogkidblog.files.wordpress.com/2015/06/new-sensation-u-s-12_.png)
INXS: New Sensation [U.S. 12″]
Atlantic Records, 1988
1. “New Sensation [Nick’s Twelve Inch Mix]” (Andre Farriss/Michael Hutchence)*
New Sensation [Nick’s Twelve Inch Mix]
2. “Guns In The Sky [Kick Ass Mix]” (Michael Hutchence)
Guns In The Sky [Kick Ass Mix]
*320 kbps vinyl rip courtesy of the Analog Kid
![New Sensation [U.K. 12_]](https://analogkidblog.files.wordpress.com/2015/06/new-sensation-u-k-12_.png)
INXS: New Sensation [U.K. 12″]
Mercury Records, 1988
1. “New Sensation” (Andrew Farriss/Michael Hutchence)
2. “Do Wot You Do” (Andrew Farriss/Michael Hutchence)
3. “Love Is (What I Say)” (Andrew Farriss/Michael Hutchence)
4. “Same Direction” (Andrew Farriss/Michael Hutchence)
____________________________________________________
Bonus Tracks!
The first rule of The Analog Kid blog is that if you write about a song on the Analog Kid blog, you share the song on the Analog Kid blog.
INXS: “Guns In The Sky” (Michael Hutchence)
INXS: “Mystify” (Andrew Farriss/Michael Hutchence)
Both taken from the album Kick
Atlantic Records, 1987
INXS: “Devil Inside [Australian 7″ Edit]” (Andrew Farriss/Michael Hutchence)
WEA Records, 1988
Devil Inside [Australian 7″ Edit]
INXS: “Need You Tonight [7″ Version]” (Andrew Farriss/Michael Hutchence)
Atlantic Records, 1987
INXS: “Don’t Change” (Garry Gary Beers/Jon Farriss/Tim Farris/Kirk Pengilly/Michael Hutchence)
From the album Shabooh Shoobah
Atco Records, 1982
Diamondbag: “Don’t Change” (Garry Gary Beers/Jon Farriss/Tim Farris/Kirk Pengilly/Michael Hutchence)
Recorded live at The Kessler Theater in Dallas, TX on 4/11/2015
The Analog Kid 